Hederman's Haunted Inkwell

This video was shot over a 48 hour period in Glenstal Abbey, Co. Limerick. Glenstal Abbey is a Monastery set on a 500-acre estate and is home to a community of Benedictine monks. The text recited in this video piece is adapted from the introduction to Mark Patrick Hederman's (the monastery's new Abbot) 2001 publication The Haunted Inkwell: Art and our Future. Hederman lays out his argument as to the importance of art and the role it can play in the development of our future. The video is chronologically edited from evening to evening of the two day period. The camera explores the interiors and exteriors of the sites architecture. The library is filmed at night, at a time when it is usually uninhabited. Hedermans text resounds through the largely empty spaces and aims to give voice to the invisible presence in the stillness.These modern times bear witness to the widespread collapse and abandonment of organised religion. The general absence of people on screen echoes this sentiment but there is still something present despite the absence. The flashing lights that ripple through the library at night aim to indicate this presence-this autonomous other within the space. www.glenstal.org